BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE       BILL NO: ab 225
          SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN              AUTHOR:  nestande
                                                         VERSION: 5/9/13
          Analysis by:  Carrie Cornwell                  FISCAL:  yes
          Hearing date:  June 25, 2013 






          SUBJECT:

          Medium-speed vehicles 

          DESCRIPTION:

          This bill defines medium-speed vehicles and makes them legal to  
          operate on California's streets with speed limits of up to 45  
          miles per hour.

          ANALYSIS:

          Generally, in order for an owner to register a vehicle in  
          California and thus make it legal to operate on public streets  
          and highways, the vehicle must meet federal motor vehicle safety  
          standards for the appropriate class of vehicle.  Also, under  
          both federal and state law, in order to sell a new vehicle, it  
          must meet the same federal standards.

          The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is  
          the federal agency that establishes motor vehicle safety  
          standards.  In 1988, it set safety standards for low-speed  
          vehicles, establishing a new class of vehicles that may operate  
          in controlled, low-speed environments.

          Existing state and federal law defines a low-speed vehicle as a  
          motor vehicle that is 4-wheeled; can attain a speed of no more  
          than 25 miles per hour (MPH) on a paved, level surface; and has  
          a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 3,000 pounds.   
          Low-speed vehicles meet a specified subset of federal motor  
          vehicle safety standards.

          Existing state law generally prohibits a driver from operating a  
          low-speed vehicle on any street or road with a speed limit in  
          excess of 35 MPH and authorizes local governments to restrict  




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          further where low-speed vehicles may operate within their  
          jurisdictions.

           This bill  :

        1.Defines "medium-speed electric vehicle" as a vehicle that:

                 Can attain a speed of no more than 45 MPH on a paved,  
               level surface; 
                 Has a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 3,000  
               pounds;
                 Is propelled solely by an electric motor; and 
                 Contains a vehicle identification number that meets  
               international standards.
          1.Requires that medium-speed vehicles must meet the following  
            safety requirements:

                 Possess a fully enclosed passenger compartment with  
               rigid doors and safety windows;
                 Have a horn in good working condition that can emit a  
               sound audible from a distance of not less than 200 feet; 
                 Meet selected federal motor vehicle safety standards;  
               and 
                 Meet or exceed any safety standards for medium-speed  
               electric vehicles that the NHTSA adopts at some future  
               point within one year of the adoption of such standards.
          
          1.Prohibits an operator of a medium-speed vehicle from exceeding  
            45 MPH in such a vehicle and from traveling on roadways with  
            speed limits in excess of 45 MPH.

          2.Subjects medium-speed vehicles and their drivers to provisions  
            of state law applicable to motor vehicles and their drivers.

          COMMENTS:

           1.Purpose  .  The author introduced this bill to make medium-speed  
            vehicles legal in California, because these vehicles are more  
            energy efficient and less costly to purchase than passenger  
            cars.  He notes that in the past few years many companies have  
            started building electric vehicles that look like small cars,  
            vans, and trucks but that are sold as low-speed vehicles,  
            because that is the only classification available.  In  
            reality, these vehicles can travel faster than the 25 MPH  
            limit applied to low-speed vehicles.  Some can go as fast as  
            50 MPH, but he asserts that all are significantly safer than  




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            low-speed vehicles.  The author believes that if California  
            creates a medium-speed vehicle classification it will  
            significantly expand the opportunities to employ electric  
            vehicles as replacements for internal combustion cars and  
            trucks for personal transportation and utility uses.  The  
            result would be a highly beneficial impact on air quality,  
            particularly in urban areas, as well as a reduction in fossil  
            fuel consumption in California. 

           2.Unsafe at these speeds  .   In September 2008, the NHTSA denied  
            petitions from three makers of medium-duty vehicles to create  
            a new class of motor vehicle for their vehicles.  In its  
            denial, NHTSA noted that medium-speed vehicles would be  
            subject to a set of safety standards greater than those that  
            apply to low-speed vehicles but substantially less than the  
            full set of safety standards that apply to passenger cars, as  
            is the case with this bill's authorization of these vehicles  
            in California.  NHTSA stated in its denial that in contrast to  
            low-speed vehicles, the traffic environment in which  
            medium-speed vehicles would likely travel, including urban  
            roads with speed limits of 35 or 45 MPH, is an environment for  
            which the full set of federal motor vehicle safety standards  
            is needed to prevent fatalities and serious injuries.  Simply  
            put, NHTSA concluded that medium-speed vehicles would result  
            in "significantly greater risk of deaths and serious  
            injuries."  

           3.Missing safety standards  .  This bill applies just a portion of  
            the federal motor vehicle safety standards for passenger  
            vehicles to medium-speed vehicles, including those related to  
            windshields, wipers, mirrors, lights, window glazing, brakes,  
            door locks, theft prevention, seat belts, roof crush  
            resistance, rollover prevention, and electric shock  
            prevention.  The bill, however, does not apply any other  
            passenger vehicle standards, including those most related to  
            enabling the vehicle's occupants to survive an accident such  
            as standards requiring air bags and showings of crash  
            worthiness.
           4.Environmental benefits  .  The petitioners that asked NHTSA to  
            establish a medium-speed vehicle class and the proponents of  
            this bill argue that medium-speed vehicles should be made  
            legal because of the environmental benefits they provide.   
            NHTSA disagreed and in its denial of the petitions pointed out  
            then that it was engaged in a rulemaking to significantly  
            increase mileage standards for passenger cars, a rulemaking  
            precipitated by California's adoption of tailpipe greenhouse  




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            gas emission standards (also known as the "Pavley I"  
            standards).  NHTSA has since adopted these mileage standards,  
            plus a second set, which together will increase average fuel  
            efficiency to over 50 miles per gallon by 2025.  Partly as a  
            result, we are now seeing all-electric vehicles that meet all  
            federal safety standards come to the market and become  
            increasingly affordable.

           5.Other states  .  At least ten other states have authorized  
            medium-speed vehicles on their roads with speed limits of  
            either 35 MPH or 45 MPH.  These states include Colorado,  
            Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon,  
            Tennessee, Texas, and Washington.

           6.What about federal law  ?  It is unclear how these others states  
            have gotten around federal law's requirement that vehicle  
            manufacturers and dealers not make or sell vehicles unless  
            those vehicles comply with all applicable federal motor  
            vehicle safety standards.  In its denial of the petitions on  
            medium-speed vehicles, NHTSA noted that this requirement is  
            not limited by state laws on medium-speed vehicles.  It's  
            unclear, therefore, whether this bill, if enacted, would  
            actually make medium-speed vehicles legal in California or  
            not.

           7.Drafting issues  .  This bill includes a number of drafting  
            errors, which make its meaning and intent unclear. Among these  
            are:

                 Division 1 of the Vehicle Codes includes definitions  
               relevant to the code, including the definition of low-speed  
               vehicles.  The definition of medium-speed vehicles in this  
               bill is not in Division 1, but should be moved there.

                 In order to avoid overlap with the definition of  
               motorcycles, the definition of medium-speed vehicles should  
               include that the vehicle must have four wheels.

                 On page 3, delete line 17, insert "A", as it is a  
               reference to laws governing the very limited instances in  
               which golf carts are allowed on streets and highways, but  
               is not applicable to medium-speed vehicles.

                 Existing law governing low-speed vehicles gives local  
               governments the authority to restrict where those vehicles  
               can travel within a city or county.  This bill makes no  




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               similar provision for medium-speed vehicles.

          Assembly Votes:
               Floor:    66-0
               Appr: 17-0
               Trans:    12-0




          POSITIONS:  (Communicated to the committee before noon on  
          Wednesday,                                             June 19,  
          2013.)

               SUPPORT:  Alvarez Jaguar
                         Coachella Valley Economic Partnership
                         Light Electric Vehicle Association
                         City of Palm Desert
                         City of Riverside
                         One individual

               OPPOSED:  None received.